By Charlie Pogacar
Catering to diners with dietary restrictions can be a major challenge for pizzeria operators. Gluten-free menu items, for example, require stringent measures to ensure food is never cross-contaminated. And because gluten-free diners are ultimately a small percentage of a pizzeria’s clientele, some operators figure it’s not worth the hassle.
At the Pizza Power Forum, hosted by PMQ earlier this month at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, a panel of experts presented the case for why that might be a mistake. In particular, when speaking about vegan and gluten-free diners, the panel seemed to unanimously agree that if you’re not offering those options, you’re losing more than just those customers.
“Let’s be honest,” said Zane Hunt, co-founder of Via 313, a fast-growing Detroit-style pizza brand out of Austin, Texas. “If somebody has dietary needs, whether they’re vegan or celiac…that person is always going to be the person that makes the decision where that group is dining.”
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In other words, menuing gluten-free and vegan options ensures you’re not losing the business of a celiac or vegan customer and their family or friends.
Alexandra Castro, owner and operator of Pizza With Ale, a catering company based in Stamford, Connecticut, echoed Hunt’s sentiments. “I think it’s important that everyone should have access to be able to eat in your restaurant,” Castro said. “And personally, I do like people to be able to enjoy what I cook, what I bake. So, yes, definitely I will [offer those items].”
One thing all of the panelists agreed on? If you are going to add menu items for those with dietary restrictions, you have to invest the time to make sure they’re every bit as good as anything else on the menu.. The same attention and detail you dedicate to the rest of your food should also be applied to, say, a keto crust.
“If you’re going to offer them, you have to care about them,” said Alex Koons, owner and operator of Hot Tongue Pizza in Los Angeles and host of the Pie2Pie podcast. “Anything you put on your pizzeria’s menu is something that you should give a [care] about. And honestly, vegan cheese is often disgusting, and a lot of the meats are disgusting, too. So make sure that if you put that stuff on your menu, you do it with intention and that you care about the product.”
Operators should also know that sometimes offering these menu items will have to serve as a loss leader. This was a point that Khanh Nguyen, founder and CEO of Dallas-based Zalat Pizza, communicated to the audience: Be prepared for sticker shock when it comes to doing these items and doing them well.
“We’ve got it all [at Zalat Pizza],” Nguyen said. “I’ve got a great vegan cheese. I’ve got a great gluten-free, keto crust. We make no money off of it. Actually, I probably lose money on the keto because it’s so expensive. The crust itself is $4 to us. So we’re actually supplementing that [in order to give people that option].”
Koons also advised Pizza Power Forum attendees against taking interest in gluten-free or vegan menu items to the logical extreme by creating an entire pizza concept dedicated to them. He was speaking from personal experience as someone who had opened a vegan pizza concept and then, when business tapered off during the 2023 Writers Guild of American strike, felt he had to add cheese and meat to the menu to make ends meet. He received a slew of reviews from angry vegans who took that business decision as a personal affront.
“I would never open up an all-vegan restaurant again,” Koons added. “I was basically crucified on the internet for adding cheese and meat. But having those options? I think that is definitely important.”
